The Gradual Disappearance of Jane Ashland is a short, precise novel about a woman taking a trip to Norway in the aftermath of tragedy. I grew tired, in the middle, of the Bell Jar-esque backstory: the creative, alert woman labelled mentally ill because she sees through the false narratives that we tell each other. And then I surprised myself by being very angry with the novelist for even attempting to tell this story of grief. How could he (he!) possibly understand. And then... ah. There's a lot of anger in this book: an explosive anger that Jane keeps expressing and everyone around her tries to dampen. Kudos to Houm and Paterson for bringing emotion to life so well that I didn't even realize it was jumping out of the page and into my experience.

I realize that we're seeing all the people around Jane through her lens, but they are really the least helpful people possible. Her therapist sounds awful. Who is prescribing her all that Valium? Does Mr. Musk Ox really try to lecture her on the meaning (or lack thereof) of life? The only character given any empathy is the Russian mail-order bride. In the last chapter I fervently wanted the two Israeli women from Shannon Leone Fowler's Traveling with Ghosts to appear with a tray of sandwiches. ( )

Nonlinear story of relentless grief from the POV of a woman named Jane. Memories of childhood, courtship, adult life and a slowly revealed tragedy at the center of the novel are intertwined with a trip to Norway to visit distant relatives and an impulsive trek with a zoologist met on the plane. Jane is not always a likeable character but is more real and unforgiving of herself in a way that makes her grief more realistic. ( )